The National Football League as we knew it, 90, died recently after complications from a spine-ectomy and a completely legal blow to head that was not penalized.

Labor strife i.e. rampant greed also threatens the league.

Born in 1920, the NFL was known for its tough, hard-nosed players and equally hard hits.

Guys like Bronco Nagurski, Ernie Stautner, Jack Youngblood, Conrad Dobler, Deacon Jones, Dick Butkus, Ronnie Lott, Mel Blount and Jack Lambert ruled the league with an iron fist, displaying toughness and strength that fans craved.

But over time, as the league got older, it become more frail.

Rule changes softened the game. Head slaps were legislated out. Bumping receivers beyond 5 yards of the line of scrimmage became a no-no.

Still, the NFL could boast of its gladiator mentality.

Sundays were full of big hits and exciting, physical play.

Did players get hurt? Sure, but they knew what they were signing up for when they inked their name on contracts with all those zeros.

Later in life, the league began taking a turn for the worse.

Suddenly, it was frowned upon to hit a quarterback below the knees or graze the QB’s helmet with a flailing hand.

Then it became illegal simply to look funny at a quarterback.

Call it the Tom Brady rule.

Steelers nose tackle Casey Hampton hit Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer in the thigh pads Monday night and was flagged another example of the beginning of the end for the game.

The real deathblow came weeks earlier on “Black Sunday,” when several players suffered concussions, prompting the league’s immune system to crank into overdrive.

The league fought alleged viruses such as Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison with outrageous fines, making him the poster child for the new and improved NFL.

But in fighting the virus, the league also fought what made it the most popular sport in the United States to begin with.

What was left was a shell of its former greatness, a withering vessel almost unrecognizable to those who enjoyed it in their youth.

Every hit has become scrutinized. Every defender must take pause before delivering a blow.

In reality, the game isn’t any more violent. The league is collapsing under its own weight, like the Roman Empire.

The NFL was preceded in death by the United States Football League and the XFL.

Friends of the NFL will be received on Thursdays, Sundays and Mondays heck, every day of the week, really until February.

The league will be buried in a skirt at the request of Lambert.

Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.